Those of you who don’t know me in real life may not know that I enjoy knitting. It’s true that I may even be slightly addicted to knitting. It all started with cloth diapering… but that is a different story.

There is a website that all knitters or aspiring knitters should know about. It’s Ravelry. If you knit or crochet and haven’t joined Ravelry, you should. Ravelry is a free resource to knitters and crocheters. It offers a simple way to track and share your projects, stash of yarn, needles, patterns and books.

Ravelry offers forums and messaging, so you can ask questions and receive help if you get stuck on one of your projects. It’s just like having a knitting grandmother or aunt available to help. Well, except for the fact that you aren’t related and no one is going to pinch your cheeks.

Best of all there are thousands of patterns available on Ravelry and many of them are free. If you want to be inspired go browse through some of the patterns. You can even add patterns or projects to your queue so you won’t forget what you wanted to cast on next. One word of warning: Don’t spend so much time dreaming about what you want to create that you don’t spend time creating it. It’s easy to do and if you are not careful nap time will be over and there will be dinner to be fixed, knees to be kissed, stories to be read, and bellies to be tickled again.

Oh, and if you are on Ravelry or if you decide to join, my Ravelry user name is RaisingOlives (what else)? Just in case you want to see what I did with all my free time before I became slightly addicted to blogging. Please feel free to friend me so that I can see what you do with your free time.

Thanks for visiting my blog! I went back and read your post on the chalkboard paint, love what you did with the table and chair! Very sweet! I am definitely going to tell hubby about this. Entered your give away as well! Enjoyed visiting with you, I’ll be back!

Speaking of socks (and I am sure you probably already do this) I have discovered a kewl way to keep easy track of all the kids socks. I use to have a fullll laundry basket of CLEAN mismatched socks. I went through, washed everything and threw them all away.( or donated the good ones I could find matches to.) Then I bought hanes size Medium for Joey. THey are easy to match all of his have a green M on the bottom. With the big boys they are in the same size, so all of theirs have a blue L (large)on the bottom. All of Sissy’s have purple toes and heals, all of Dans are like a grey checked, and mine all have hanes written in pink letters accross the bottom of the toes. No more looking for that one pink sock with the lacy frills among a rainbow of mismatched socks that number over 100. 😀

Well Connie, I’m not saying that it won’t be something else to eat up your time. You can get lost in looking at all the projects that others are working on, but it is a valuable tool and has come in handy to research yarns, etc. Oh, did I mention the free patterns?

I’m an Olive lurker. I’m not sure how I came to find your blog, but I sure enjoy reading it! I’m a knitter, too, and working on my first pair of socks. I just discovered Ravelry and have really enjoyed searching around on it! I guess I’ll just have to stalk you there, too! I hope you don’t mind, but I send some of my homeschooling friends the link to your book post.

Hi Natalie,
Wonderful to meet an Olive lurker. I think that you are the first one to come forward. Thanks! Also nice to find a fellow knitter. I’m a bit stuck on those socks right now. Normally I love socks, but I’m not loving the pattern or the size 0 needles. I can’t wait to finish so that I can start some more inspiring projects. I’d love to “see” you on Ravelry.

I’m glad that you are sending people to my book post. I really want this site to be helpful and thought provoking. I am hoping to do more book recommendations in the future, just trying to find the time.

You’ve done it again! I checked out Ravelry and I am enjoying the great resource! I found a sweater design that I have already started and should finish this week. I’m a self taught knitter and have been scared to knit a sweater and have it not turn out because of the yarn investment. I like the seamless designs of Elizabeth Zimmermann. This first one is in a size to fit my grandson (enough yarn in my stash for a small sweater) if this works out…I’m off to the yarn shop!
Thank you Kimberly!

I love Ravelry. Lots of thanks to my friend Marijan who suggested it to me (and got me into knitting). I kind of have knitting ADHD and your site really gives me things that I can do to get instant gratification and still stick to my crazy out of the ordinary stle. Thank you everyone. I hope to post some pics soon. 🙂

I’m not certain which hat you’re speaking about. Here is one that I’ve done baby hat with flower. The only other hat I’ve made that fits your description is pictured here and the pattern can be found in Itty-Bitty Hats